Leisure

In modern societies, the term leisure is used, explicitly or implicitly, as an adjective or noun to refer to time that is unaccounted for by work, other obligations and necessary activities, the things that are done in this time, and the experiences that are derived. Leisure and consumption overlap; neither encompasses the whole of the other. That said, it is within leisure time and through leisure spending that consumer cultures have developed to a point where an issue of current debate is whether consumer cultures [Page 839]have not only penetrated but also are overwhelming the whole of leisure.

What Is Leisure?

The systematic study of leisure dates from the creation of leisure studies as a specialist academic subject in North America in the 1950s and 1960s. Leisure had been studied previously but nearly always as a by-product in studies of work and occupations through exploring the “long arm of the job” or in community studies where leisure was covered as part of family and neighborhood life. Until leisure itself became the focus, a precise definition seems to have been considered unnecessary.

Leisure has been defined as a type of time, a type of activity, and a type of experience and various combinations of these, but researchers have found that time is the truly basic, essential feature in a satisfactory concept of modern leisure. With this recognition, we see instantly that the leisure of today is a product of modern, industrial society. Many of the activities that we engage in during leisure predate the modern era. This applies to sports and games, drinking, and various arts and crafts. As far as we can tell, throughout history human beings have played, amused themselves and one another, and found time to relax, but this was not leisure as we know it today. Modern leisure is a product of the compartmentalization and rationalization of work. Industrialism takes work out of homes and neighborhoods and relocates it in mines, factories, and offices, where people work at set times, under work-specific authority, and amid work-specific relationships. Thus work becomes a part of life. Industrialism also involves the rationalization of work insofar as jobs are preformed not according to custom, or in ways that will maximize workers' enjoyment, but to maximize the quantity and quality of output and minimize costs. If people find their jobs enjoyable, this is a fortuitous byproduct rather than the prime consideration. Thus, work has become a part of life in which employees are required to follow their employers' commands. Opportunities to do things purely for the intrinsic satisfaction, just for fun, to choose for oneself are pushed into nonwork time. Hence, the everyday (in modern societies) meaning of leisure is work-free time during which, in contrast to when people are working, they are able to do what they please, purely for the personal satisfaction. In earlier times, when the term leisure was used, it described a particular class of people or a total way of life. Modern leisure is different: it is a part of life that is available (in principle) for everyone.

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